July 2006 Archives
I learnt about this via infinite loop. Apple announced a worldwide “15-inch MacBook Pro Battery Exchange Program” covering MBPs sold between feb and may 2006, with model number A1175 and a 12-digit serial number that ends with U7SA, U7SB or U7SC. eeeeep, that’s me.
Went to the Apple page, filled out the form with my serial number, my battery serial number and yes, they both validate. Filled out address info and hopefully a new battery will be shipped to me soon.
The discussion about why there is such an exchange program hasn’t started because the Americans aren’t up yet. Apart from the mbp getting very hot, I’ve (touch wood) not had any problems. And it’s on whenever I’m home. hmm.
And no sniggering or 5% comments!
I threw out the fish tank today. It’s the end of our fish-keeping days. It all started when mm and I went to a funfair in Hampstead and won a goldfish. I remember buying a small glass bowl, but then realising we need more — food, filters, aeration and such like.
So we bought an aquarium system and learnt how to keep tropical fish. The goldfish we gave to a friend of ours. We kept to easy fish like guppies, angel fish and catfish. We always preferred live plants. Water must stand in buckets for a while before adding. Change water regularly. Add fish slowly, let them have a taste of the aquarium water first. All these became second nature.
Then I started having to travel a lot, so the fish became neglected and eventually they all died. The tank’s been empty for a couple of years, and starting to look grotty.
I suppose one day we might go back to keeping fish. I like it, watching them, it’s peaceful.
15 Book-to-film adaptations that live up to the source material.
Don’t agree on all of them. Haven’t read all of them. Loved Charlotte’s Web as a kid. Loved American Psycho as an adult. Note to self: read more books.
My folks like going to buffets, so I grew up on a diet of them. I’m a pretty discerning buffeteer now, I’ll only take a little of whatever item I want to eat, I don’t over-fill or take food that is too filling.
I was bumming around online tech news magazines today at work, and came across How to fill up a Buffet Plate. Pretty okay advice, except this is for people who eat a lot of no value buffet food. Don’t go for the bread and potatoes, they’ll just fill you up nad you won’t have room for dessert!
- Work in reverse. Smart buffet operators position the cheapest stuff (bread, pasta salad, last week’s lettuce) at the front of the table so you’ll fill up on it. That’s why savvy chowhounds start loading from the back end.
- Keep a low center of gravity. Remember your high school physics: Torque equals force times distance from the fulcrum – in this case, the plate center. Start by laying down a ballast of solid meat in the middle to prevent tipping. Reserve the outer rim for lighter fare.
- Think vertically. Diners squander valuable real estate by spreading salad alongside the entree. Get over your irrational feelings about different foods touching – it goes on top.
- Stick to flat or malleable foods. When stacked, meatballs and baked spuds behave like ball bearings. This can result in an embarrassing demo of kinetics. That’s why God created Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes.
- Flood-control your sauces. Gravies are prone to sloshing, so ladle the stuff behind a mashed-potato levee – and hope it holds.
- Pocket the bread. Duh! That’s what cargo pants are for.
I bought a usb phone charger in the US. It’s a small cable that connects through the mbp’s usb port. Charges the phone pretty quickly too. Now I don’t need to bring the phone charger when I travel, one fewer lump. I wish I remembered to buy another one for the office.
mm is in Israel, on her pilgrimage. The Foreign Office advises against travelling to the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and warns travellers to be vigilant in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and basically the whole of Israel. Terrorism and such like has never really bothered or scared me, there are 100+ people travelling with her and they’re on a religious journey.
Nevertheless, I asked her to email me more often so I know she’s okay. I’ll be more comfortable when they reach Italy next week.
I watched the trailer for World Trade Center the film. I didn’t think I would be affected, not after so many years, not after so many other tragedies and atrocities. But I had goosebumps all through.
Watch the trailer:
Apple
youtube
My NYC hotel room overlooked ground zero. Every day we walked past the site to get to the office. There are always people there peering over the fencing and taking pictures. The PATH station is fully operational of course, but everything around is still a big construction site. This is from my room, click for the larger version at flickr.
The one good thing about the hot weather is how quickly laundry dries and I can do load after load after load.
It was all eating all the time in NYC. Some of the restaurants we visited:
ROC — cosy-posh Italian restaurant. We shared appetizers — watermelon salad, octopus, fried calamari. I had the special, a sea bass, but it wasn’t that good. My colleague gave me one of her lamb chops, it was pretty good.
City Hall — modern steak/seafood place. We sat outside, which was fine. We shared a seafood platter as starter and I had a sirloin for main course. Asked for rare but it came back medium rare / medium. It was okay but I could have cooked it better. Rice pudding dessert, which completely filled me up. Had a zinfandel and a glass of ice wine too.
Sparks — wow. steakhouse supreme. I like it better than the City Hall. Dark wood panels, white shirted waiters, steaks the size of Austria. The menu was a 4 page open up card, and food only made up one page, the rest were wine. I had a sirloin, which was rare as requested and almost 2 inches thick. We should have ordered the lobster, it comes on a trolley, the waiter dresses it in front of the guests and the size of it is again amazing. It’s the sort of place you expect to see cigar-smoking, gun-toting, pinstripe-suited gangsters, and a mafia boss was killed in front of the restaurant about 20 years ago.
Oh, aside from that, the food at the office wasn’t bad. There’s a subsidised cafeteria and Starbucks coffee there is only 81 cents.
Early morning flight to JFK. Had to check-in at the airport because it’s a US flight and they’re always special, like the Americans always think of themselves as special. Had an hour in the lounge, ate lots of breakfast, even before I got on the plane, hehe.
Flight was okay. I like the type of seats where the backs are fixed so the seat in front of me doesn’t move back when the passenger leans back. These lie-back seats are also much nicer and obviously flatter. I stand by my assertion that leg room is one of the most important factors in flight comfort. I also appreciate how the leg rest is almost horizontal.
Food was fine as usual, I had chicken. In business class they have different selections and I had a cabernet from Columbia winery from Washington State, the first time I’ve tried wine from northwest US.
Watched V for Vendetta (cool comic action), Ultraviolet (not as good comic action), She’s the Man (modern high school / football equivalent of Twelfth Night) and an episode of House. The 15 hours passed fairly quickly, even though I only slept for about 3 hours.
At the Millenium Hilton, which overlooks Ground Zero, next to Century 21 and convenient for work and food. Watched the World Cup Final, happy that Italy won, but I didn’t really have any preference. For dinner went with colleagues to Little Italy where people were out celebrating in force. Good atmosphere and perfect for people watching. The food took forever to arrive, we shared a pizza, large pasta and antipasto selection. Afterwards we had ice cream from a street vendor.
By the time I got back to the hotel it was around 9pm. Very tired. Going to bed, it’s 10.30pm.
This is funny, though I understand why the it’s upset the kiwis. Australia’s Channel Seven accessorised the All-Blacks doing the traditional haka before a rugby match with handbags. This was to promote the channel’s coverage of the upcoming Tri-Nations Test between the All-Blacks and the Wallabies in Christchurch. It refers to an incident when former captain Tana Umaga broke up a fight by hitting fellow All Black Chris Masoe over the head with a woman’s handbag.
adium … here’s an interview with the designer of the ubiquitous duck icon. You either love that duck or you don’t. Me? I’m not a big fan but I’m used to it. The app itself makes up for the whackiness I suppose.
Oh, and the new icons will be available on Tuesday to add to the tons of other customisable icons available on adium xtra. Plus 1.0 beta is out.
Talk about being underwhelmed.
Just when we thought we’d been forgotten, yahoo released YM 3.0 beta last week. Cocoa interface, invisible mode, avatars, “what’s on my iTunes” feature. I installed it, and promptly went back to adium. Why? No logging, and still no voice chat. Apparently vc will be included in the next beta. I’m not holding my breath, it took them 3 years to get from 2.5.3 to 3.0, it’s long enough to get very bitter about it, consider stupid PCs are at 8.0.
This is a spoof version of “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt. LOL.
My job is stupid,
My day’s a bore,
Inside this office,
From 8 to 4.
Nothing ever happens,
My life is pretty blank,
Pretending that I am working,
Pray I don’t get canned.
My cubicle, my cubicle,
It’s 1 of 62,
It’s my small space,
In a crowded place,
Just a six by six board booth,
And I hate it, that’s the truth.
When I give a sigh,
As the boss walks by,
No one ever talks to me,
Or looks me in the eye,
And I really should work,
But instead I just sit here,
And surf the internet.
And my cubicle, my cubicle,
It doesn’t have a view,
It’s my small space,
In a crowded place,
I sit inside there too,
And sometimes I sit here nude.
Installed the OS 10.4.7 update. Lots of upgrades and improvements, except I don’t use Mail or iChat. But one thing I don’t like, is how fonts are now rendered in firefox. They’re more … blurry, especially bold text. Reminds me of how it looked like in 10.2.2 on the pb1. Unless I’m doing something wrong in sys pref.
